HANOI, VIETNAM

It's been more than 2 months since I've written any post which I am sorry about. I had simply nothing to write about since I mostly focus on the traveling posts now. My last blog post was from the beginning of December when I was in Cape Town, I mostly had no new destinations since then. 

Anyway, I celebrated Christmas in Dubai with my mum and friends which made me so happy and also celebrated New Year's Eve on board flying from Johannesburg back to Dubai. On New Year's Eve, it was my 1 year flying anniversary. In January, I managed to get couple of days off and went home where I haven't been for more than one day since August. Time flies. I spent very nice time with my family and friends and before I knew it, it was time to go back to Dubai. 

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Today's post is about my trip to Hanoi, Vietnam though. I requested this flight and I was so happy when I saw it on my roster. Hanoi is not that far from Dubai and the layover is 34h which is a decent time to see the city and do some stuff. 

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa has always had a special place in my heart since I first visited it. Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban ... I have been loving all these places, the local food, the nature, the people. It was already my second time in Cape Town, but since I haven't done much during my first visit because of the bad weather, I was very happy to go there again. It is summer there now, which means nice sunny weather and a day light till late hours which is perfect for exploring any new place. 

There are certain activities that every crew does at each destination. So if it is your first time, you already know where you can go and enjoy your time. In Cape Town particularly, crew goes to hike up the Table Mountain, they go see the penguins, the visit the Cape Point or just have local wine and some delicious steak. 

ENJOYING DAYS OFF IN DUBAI

At the end of November, my mum came to Dubai for couple of days. It was right after my annual exams which we have to take every year (obviously) to be able to fly again for another year. I successfully passed all of them so I could enjoy the days with my mum to the fullest. 

Since it was my mum's third time in Dubai, it becomes harder and harder to come up with a list of activities and sights for her. It was also uncertain whether she would make it on board the plane or not because her ticket was waitlisted so I couldn't really plan anything in advance. Almost at last minute, she was accepted on board and it made me so happy that we wouldn't loose a day together. 

MALTA

Most of the destinations that I fly to are the ones that I have never visited before. Malta is a place where I wasn't supposed to fly at all, my initial destination was Dublin. When I got a swap for a Malta flight, I accepted straight away. Spending the last day of October at Malta? Yes, please. 

YINCHUAN, CHINA

Yinchuan is the capital city of Ningxia Autonomous Region, located on the Yellow River. It's possible that you have never heard of it. Before this trip, I was among the people who had never heard about this place either. 

My friend travels to this place quite often and refers to it as a "mini vacation" because this trip lasts from anywhere from 4-7 days. So it's really like a mini holiday. Mine was for almost 5 days in total including the short flight in between. 

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

The second part of the multi sector let me visit Brisbane, Australia. You could read about the first part from Singapore here. Brisbane was the last city in Australia where we fly with the airline that I work for but hadn't visited before. So I was very excited to go there (do I actually use this word way too often when I talk about the new destinations? I might do). 

SINGAPORE

I have watched my friends traveling to Singapore for months and for some reason I wasn't lucky enough to go there myself. I kept biding for this flight and then being removed. Last month, I finally saw "SIN" on my roster and the best part was that one of my dearest friends in Dubai was there at the same time. Is there anything better than enjoying a layover together with your friend? 

BALI, INDONESIA

Bali. A destination that probably everyone dreams of visiting. A place to explore, a place to have a wedding at, a place for a beautiful honeymoon. It was always my dream to travel to Bali one day. Back in July I finally got the chance. We flew there over night and got there in the afternoon which was unfortunately late enough to book any tour from the hotel to see the rice fields. So that is on my list for the next time.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Long time, no see which I am sorry about. I have been flying all over the world and have been quite busy and when I haven't, I wasn't in a mood of editing pictures and writing a post. Also, there is something wrong with my camera at the moment so it's being fixed back in Prague but I hope to have it back soon, well at the end of the month. Unfortunately, that is the reason why I have no pictures from the recent layovers.. 

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

Johannesburg or Joburg, as some may call it, is the largest city in South Africa. South Africa has always been on my list, especially Johannesburg and Cape Town. I've recently found a list on my phone titled "Places I want to travel to" from years ago and do you know what it said? "I want to visit South Africa". So here I am, fulfilling my dreams. 

When you visit South Africa, everyone says that one thing you have to try is the steak and local wine. Crew also love doing grocery shopping there because the fruits, veggies, meats and wines are soo good. 

GETTING TO KNOW MY HOME BETTER - WEEK IN DUBAI, TIPS

Living alone isn't easy, especially living alone for the first time and being thousands of kilometers away from home. It makes you realize where your true home is, where your loved ones are and how much you miss them each and every day. It also makes you appreciate the moments with them so much more and having the chance of flying back home for couple of days or having someone over in your apartment feels like Christmas time. At least that is how I feel. Anyway.. 

Writing this post makes me realize how lucky I am to call Dubai a home and even how lucky I am to have such a nice mum who came here to stay for a week in April. A week full of surprises, plans, joy and adventures. A week that we both wish continued forever. We had such a great time together and as I told my mum before she came here - "we have so many plans to do so prepare for a busy schedule, it won't be a lazy holiday spent on a beach" and I meant it. 

VENICE, ITALY

I always loved coming back to Europe and my May's schedule has been all about that so far. I was supposed to travel to Milano initially but then I changed it to Venice because I am flying to Milano at the end of May anyway. So one Saturday last week I flew to Venice and I couldn't be happier even though the weather forecast was showing really bad weather conditions. 

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Trip to Sydney was special in many ways. I got the chance to fly there with two of my friends who came to Dubai on the same day as me. Which, let me tell you, makes the flight much more easier when you are able to fly with your friends or any kind people in general. So, even though the flight is very loong and tiring, also departing in early morning hours, we made the flight and the whole trip memorable. 

PARIS, FRANCE

I finally sat down and found time to finish the blog posts. It has been more than a month since I flew to Paris but haven't got time to edit all the pictures with my busy schedule. I just came back from Czech (had my first operational flight there which was awesome!) and tomorrow I am off to Venice. But let me tell you about our trip to Paris...

PERTH, AUSTRALIA

I've never been to Australia before so you can imagine my excitement for seeing Perth on my March roster. Even though the layover is not that long /about 27 hours/, we still managed to see a lot. The flight to Perth was about 10 hours which made us all tired and the time difference didn't help at all. We got to the hotel at about 2:30am local time..

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

I was initially rostered for Kuala Lumpur but the day before, my flight changed to Stockholm which meant I completely had to repack my suitcase. Let me say - it was freezing there! The last time I was in Stockholm was in 2013 when I was visiting my friend there so I was looking forward to visit this place again. 

SKIING IN RADSTADT, AUSTRIA

Skiing is one of my favorite sports to do. Or should I say the most favorite one? I love skiing and I was so excited to fly back home and travel to Austria with my family for couple of days. Not only I got the chance to spend some days with them but I could also spend time doing what I love. So here are some pictures from Radstadt in Austria. 

GUANGZHOU, CHINA

I must admit that when I saw I was rostered for CAN, I didn't know what it meant. For a second I thought that it meant Canada which wouldn't make any sense at all. Then I searched for the abbreviation "CAN" which showed me that I was supposed to travel to China. CAN is an airport code for a place in southern China called Guangzhou which didn't make it any clearer for me because I've never heard of this place before. But I was ready to fly there and enjoy it as much as I could. 

BANGKOK, THAILAND

First time in Bangkok and it was awesome! Everyone kept telling me what to do there, what I couldn't miss so I had a whole list written down. The flight to Bangkok is only about 5 hours and 30 minutes long which is short. People on board were so lovely and it was actually one of the best flights I've had so far, thanks to the crew as well. 

PEKING, CHINA

Finally got the time to edit all the pictures from my previous layovers so here I am today, with another traveling post. In February, I got rostered for Peking (Beijing), China. It was my first time in China and I was so excited to climb The Great Wall. I packed so many layers of clothes because I was scared it would be freezing up there.